Nastase unrepentant over ban for abuse of British tennis players
Tennis legend Ilie Nastase was unrepentant yesterday after being suspended from the Fed Cup for abusing the British team and the referee.
The International Tennis Federation provisionally suspended Romania captain Nastase from the tournament in Constanta on Sunday, a day after he hurled expletives at British player Johanna Konta, her team captain Anne Keothavong, and the umpire. The referee ejected Nastase from the tie.
He is now set to be banned from Wimbledon’s Royal Box. Two-time finalist Nastase is a regular at the Championships and was spotted in the prestigious seating area in 2015 wearing a Romanian military-style uniform. The All England Club has stopped short of blacklisting Nastase but it is unlikely he would be welcomed back to SW19 after his rant which saw him thrown out of the arena where the Fed Cup tie was taking place and which has earned him a provisional suspension from the International Tennis Federation.
Nastase was expelled midway through the World Group II play-off match after swearing at officials, plus Keothavong and world number seven Konta.
Nastase was heard to call Keothavong and Konta “f ****** bitches” after the British team complained about calls from the crowd during points, while he also launched a rant at a British journalist.
Nastase , 70, said in a newspaper interview: “I don’t regret it and they can send me to prison if they want – I don’t care. I was just trying to promote the interest of my girl.
“The English player just stormed off without even asking permission to leave the court and I admit that’s when I called her a bitch.
“She kept trying to keep the crowd quiet – but it’s not an opera, it’s a game.
“I don’t need this b ******* . I’m 70 years old. I don’t even get paid for being team captain. I don’t give a s*** if they fine me or don’t let me sit in the captain’s chair.”
Reactions in Romania have been mixed, with fellow sporting great Nadia Comaneci springing to the tennis player’s defence – although she warned he must accept any punishment imposed by the ITF.
In Cluj in north-west Romania for the European Gymnastics Championships, Comaneci said: “Ilie is very patriotic and sometimes he says things that he doesn’t really mean – it’s just Ilie, and he will always be my friend.
“Of course Ilie is responsible for what comes out of his mouth, and I think it is important in sport that you keep the respect and good behaviour.
“He will have to deal with [the consequences], but he can survive whatever happens to him. People make mistakes. Everybody in Romania loves Ilie because he is Ilie.”